Tuesday, July 01, 2014

MURFREESBORO — At
firstglance, there might not seem
to be any common ground between physics and philosophy.

However, those very different disciplines are comfortable
educational territory to Robert Daniel Murphy.

“Not necessarily all philosophers are scientists, but I
would argue that any scientist, and particularly physicist, that is worth his or
her salt would have to be a philosopher,” Murphy said.

The Murfreesboro resident, who graduated May 10 with
bachelor’s degrees in both majors, is one of the winners of a national
fellowship from Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

Only 51 superior students from across the country were
chosen for the $5,000 stipend, which is presented annually by the nation’s
oldest, largest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic
disciplines.

Murphy will put that money to use in the fall, when he
begins his pursuit of a doctorate degree in physics at the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville.

Rewards for academic excellence are nothing new to Murphy.
He received MTSU’s highest award for an entering freshman, the Buchanan
Fellowship, in 2010, and the national Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 2013.

“Daniel has outstanding academic skills and he has proven
especially capable at applying classroom skills to real-world problems,” wrote
Dr. William Robertson, a professor of physics at MTSU, in his recommendation
letter.

Under Robertson’s tutelage, Murphy performed research at
MTSU on a topic associated with an optical biosensor project.

Murphy said solving the issue after much more research hopefully
could lead to a more sensitive fluorescence device for the medical profession.

“When I took my first physics class as a junior in high
school, everything just clicked,” Murphy said.

Dr. Vic Montemayor, another MTSU physics professor,
commended Murphy for his two years as president of the university’s Society of
Physics Students chapter.

“He has the demeanor and confidence of a natural leader,”
Montemayor wrote. “He also has what I think is a crucial characteristic of a
successful leader: he puts the needs of others ahead of his own needs or
desires.”

Murphy said it was not unusual for him to stay up until 2 or
3 a.m. with fellow physics students trying to decode how the universe behaves.

That keen intellect, however, is not limited to the lab. Dr.
Ron Bombardi, chair of the MTSU Department of Philosophy, hails Murphy’s
detailed dissections of the ideas that have boggled great thinkers for
centuries.

“His analytical skills are formidable, comprehensive and
well-developed; his intuitive faculties are equally impressive,” wrote
Bombardi. “Rarely in the span of some 30 years of teaching at the undergraduate
level have I encountered a student so profoundly committed to intellectual
rigor.”

Murphy, whose father works at Bridgestone Firestone’s La
Vergne, Tennessee, plant and whose mother works at the Tennessee Rehabilitation
Center in Smyrna, Tennessee, expressed gratitude to his family and to Laura
Clippard, undergraduate fellowships coordinator for the University Honors
College, for supporting him in his education.

When considering Phi Kappa Phi’s motto, “Let the love of
learning rule humanity,” Murphy said, “It’s not about power or money. It’s
about helping others.”